Mate–location behavior in Pereute Herrich–Schäffer butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae), with a review of male behavior at encounter sites in the subtribe Aporiina

Male butterflies exploit a range of encounter sites, such as larval food resources, adult food resources and landmarks, to detect receptive females for mating. We present preliminary observations on behavior of males of Pereute and allied butterflies from South America which suggest that valley floors of ravines and gorges are used as non–resource–based encounter sites to locate mates. Males of P. callinira Staudinger, 1884, and P. telthusa (Hewitson, 1860) use these landmarks during the morning or around midday, are site tenacious (duration of visitation approx. 1–2 h), exhibit high site defense against conspecifics, and patrol a defined air space (territory): we hypothesize that these components comprise a mate–location tactic to locate receptive females. Similar behavior occurs in the closely related genera Leodonta, Catasticta and Archonias, although in Catasticta and Archonias males adopt a perching strategy while waiting at these and other landmarks. A review of available information on mate-location behavior in the Aporiina indicates a diverse array of tactics. Although there is little data on courtship of females and actual matings, non-resource-based sites (landmarks) are used most frequently as putative encounter sites, which as a rule are visited during the morning, and that patrolling behavior amongst males is widespread. Simple optimization of the component of waiting for receptive females in relation to a phylogenetic hypothesis for the Aporiina suggests that patrolling is ancestral and evolved in the common ancestor of the subtribe, whereas perching is derived and evolved relatively recently in the immediate common ancestor of Catasticta + (Archonias + Charonias). The selective forces that may have promoted this evolutionary switch in male behavior within the subtribe are briefly discussed.